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Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

android-developers.blogspot.com

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Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#101

Post by kuschku »

twblalock wrote: post #46
kuschku wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And with this, they just killed all actual apps for Android. Anything you can do with an app you can do as well with a website. Any actual app, not just a website in form of an app, which did computational task, data recording, or kept services available, is impossible to create now. Run tracking app that doesn’t require you uploading your GPS data to Google Fit? Impossible. Messaging app that doesn’t route all your…

What on earth are you talking about? All of those things you listed as impossible will still be possible. All Google did is restrict what apps can do in the background, and announced that there will be further restrictions in the future: all background tasks will have to be done through the JobScheduler API. This does not prevent apps from doing stuff in the background, it just prevents them from doing whatever they…

That was true with Marshmallow.

With Nougat, no background tasks will be run at all while the screen is off – except for Google services, or if they keep the CPU on 100% of the time with a wake lock.

JobScheduler also doesn’t allow continuous tasks, but only short tasks – so you can’t actually keep a low-cost socket open.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#102

Post by ZenoArrow »

pasbesoin wrote: post #94
helloworld wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, no update for the Nexus 7 (2013) tablet: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/08/android-nougat-drops-... [I]t's too bad that the support lifecycle of the most consistently updated Android devices is so much shorter than what Apple achieves with iOS, especially since the hardware should still be more than capable of supporting Nougat.

My 2013 Nexus 7 is perfectly fine... except for now being left behind, software-wise. I bought once / as soon as I learned that its successor had not been worth waiting for. So, I got significantly less than 3 years out of it. Would have bought the successor, except... Guess I'll be rooting it. And buying Apple, next time.

Android 6 is very likely to be supported for quite some time by app developers, it's not like you're missing out on much by not running the latest version of the OS.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#103

Post by kuschku »

morsch wrote: post #72
Grazester wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please provide a link to this if you can.

Here's something he's referring to; messaging through Google's cloud infrastructure may be privileged[0]: "Like in Marshmallow, apps can still "punch through" Doze mode by sending a "high-priority message" via Firebase Cloud Messaging (formerly called "Google Cloud Messaging"). High-priority messages are the expected format for instant messaging apps, so users still get notified of messages when their phone is Dozing…

Thanks, that’s part of what I was referring to.

A wake lock is possible, but it’s far more battery intensive than just using the pre-Nougat solutions.

Pre-Nougat, I could keep a socket open, and only have a timeout message sent every 28 minutes to keep it open – at very low battery cost.

Now I either have to keep a wakelock – keeping the CPU always on, instead of just a few milliseconds per hour – or I can’t use it at all.

That’s a severe issue for me.

(I can’t use GCM, due to architectural reasons, and would have to ask tenthousands of people to change their IRC bouncer setup completely).

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#104

Post by r00fus »

bicx wrote: post #45
luma wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my expensive phone is going to be left behind. You bought a $350 phone and received updates for 3 years. I think you're in for a surprise when you price out a new iPhone.

This. Battery life on my Nexus 6P is just fine, at least equal to my friends with their iPhone 6 Pluses. My Note 4 also had solid battery life before that. For the most part, modern Android phones are much better than their predecessors in terms of battery. The UX is also quite nice as well.

My Nexus5 has great battery till I use it like my iPhone. Video, LTE, Webex? Lasts maybe a half hour under duress.

This was the case from day one, which is why it never became my daily driver. Good to keep up on what's going on with Android, though.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#105

Post by hackuser »

koevet wrote: post #95
ymse wrote: post #6

Just a shout-out to the fine folks over at CopperheadOS[0]who have been doing a lot of behind-the-scenes hardening in Android over the last year[1]. If you have a Nexus device and don't care much for the Play Store applications (F-Droid is included) give it a go for a true AOSP experience. The only apps I'm really missing are Tasker and Signal, but I have a second phone for those. 0: https://copperhead.co/android/ 1:…

Can't you install the Signal apk directly, from apkmirror[0] ? 0: http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/open-whisper-systems/signal-pri...

Re: APKMirror: I have the same questions I have about all APK proxy services - which claim to pull the APKs directly form the Play Store - why would I trust it to provide software that isn't infected with malware?

Other than APK Downloader, I haven't found another credible source among the very many options. Any solutions would be appreciated.

----

[0] APK Downloader, for those interested ... I'd start with the original, but the others might suit your needs:

* redphoenix89's original here: http://codekiem.com/2014/08/07/official-apk-downloader-v2-do... and here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1515021

* Bexton's updated Chrome extension, based on v1.21: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1809458

* Lekensteyn updated Chrome extension, based on v1.3.4 of Bexton's: https://lekensteyn.nl/apk-downloader/ and https://github.com/Lekensteyn/apk-downloader

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#106

Post by Navarr »

UncleChis wrote: post #65

Did I read it right: Nexus Player is in the list of OTA update? I thought the device is dead? Anyone has a link of Nougat for Android TV?

I've been running the beta - which is a terrible idea on a day-to-day Nexus Player. It does not prompt you for updates - it just updates. This is fine if you're on a stable channel. This is not great when it's your primary entertainment resource on a beta channel.

However, it's pretty nice? I know it has some added features but it doesn't really feel much different in 7 than it did in 6. I haven't had a chance to use PiP or anything like that.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#107

Post by gpderetta »

wastedhours wrote: post #50
jonesetc wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll be a bummer not using latest android for the first time in many years (HTC G2 -> Nexus 4 -> Nexus 5), but I really can't imagine anything compelling me to pay hundreds of dollars for a new phone for a couple more years. The Nexus 5 has been practically the perfect phone for me.

I'd agree - however after nearly 3 years the speakers on my N5 are nigh on unusable (phonecalls are only really possible with a headset or loudspeaker), the power cable refuses to stay put and tries to make a break for it every 5 minutes, and there's still an annoying bug where the screen is flaky/unresponsive when it is finally plugged in. Not sad about missing out on Nougat at the moment, but the sheer number of N5…

Same problem, except that my loudspeaker is also busted. Headphones only right now.

The damage is possibly my fault as I opened the phone to change the battery (which died in two years), but the lack of an user accessible battery and it's poor battery life are a problem.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#108

Post by thaumasiotes »

magila wrote: post #11
SadWebDeveloper wrote: post #2

No nexus 5 (not 5x) OTA Update ='(

Not really surprising given the device's age, but still disappointing given the presumably rather large number of Nexus 5 still in use. The bigger story may be the inability to come up with a compelling reason for N5 users to upgrade, other than getting the latest OS revision. The N5's compactness in particular makes the 5X (and the impending successor, codenamed "Sailfish") a tough sell.

> Not really surprising given the device's age, but still disappointing given the presumably rather large number of Nexus 5 still in use.

My Nexus 5 was in use up until a couple of weeks ago. Then it entered a state where, when plugged in, it rebooted in an eternal loop and, when not plugged in, it shut off. Judging by the internet, this is a common problem for them.

I followed the advice I found in multiple places of trying to dislodge the Nexus 5's stuck power button by whacking it against a soft object. That worked -- it will now try to boot, fail to mount the hard drive, and just keep displaying the booting animation forever. It can boot into the bootloader and recovery mode, and I can flash a new recovery image in fastboot, or at least I can issue the command and see a report of success, but on reboot I just get the old recovery mode.

So... I guess I do have a compelling reason to upgrade, although the N5 was satisfactory in every other way. My Nexus 4 still works fine, but it's gotten much puffier than it should be, and apparently it's impossible to get a new battery for it.

:(

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#109

Post by tdkl »

adamors wrote: post #62
luma wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> my expensive phone is going to be left behind. You bought a $350 phone and received updates for 3 years. I think you're in for a surprise when you price out a new iPhone.

The iPhone SE is similarly priced and iOS devices receive updates for more than 3 years. iPhone 5 for instance got and runs fine iOS 9, 4 years after release.

> Phone 5 for instance got and runs fine iOS 9

It runs, but far from fine compared to iOS it shipped with with basically no added value.

Re: Taking the final wrapper off of Android 7.0 Nougat

#110

Post by dragonwriter »

kuschku wrote: post #101
twblalock wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What on earth are you talking about? All of those things you listed as impossible will still be possible. All Google did is restrict what apps can do in the background, and announced that there will be further restrictions in the future: all background tasks will have to be done through the JobScheduler API. This does not prevent apps from doing stuff in the background, it just prevents them from doing whatever they…

That was true with Marshmallow. With Nougat, no background tasks will be run at all while the screen is off – except for Google services, or if they keep the CPU on 100% of the time with a wake lock. JobScheduler also doesn’t allow continuous tasks, but only short tasks – so you can’t actually keep a low-cost socket open.

> With Nougat, no background tasks will be run at all while the screen is off – except for Google services.

Untrue.

First, mobile Doze doesn't kick in immediately when the screen is off.

Second, mobile Doze apparently doesn't stop all background tasks except "Google services" from running, since "wake locks" from apps for background tasks are still supported.

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